Gauchos Fall to Highlanders, 9-2

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
Things didn't start well for the UC Santa Barbara baseball team on Saturday and it didn't get much better as the game progressed.

The Gauchos left the bases loaded in the first inning, UC Riverside scored four runs in the second inning and UCSB could never recover in a 9-2 loss.

Nick Capito returned to the mound for the Gauchos (19-18 overall, 5-6 in the Big West) after a scary incident when he was struck in the forehead by a batted ball last weekend, but the Gaucho left-hander allowed five runs and six hits in just 1.2 innings pitched. Capito walked two and hit two others.

The Highlanders (22-14, 6-5) scored four times in the second inning after scoring just once in the first despite loading the bases. With one run already across in the second, Robert Brantly lined a bases-loaded single to center for two more runs and Justin Shults followed with a sacrifice fly for a 5-0 lead.

UCSB loaded the bases in the first inning with one out, but Marty Mullins and Mark Haddow both struck out to end the threat.

The Gauchos did score twice in the fourth on Ryan Palermo's two-run flare down the right-field line, which plated Mullins and Haddow. Unfortunately that was all for the Gauchos, who managed just five hits on the afternoon.

UCR's Dustin Emmons pitched seven strong innings allowing two runs on four hits with five strikeouts.